Monthly Archives: April 2014

I went to hear Ken Roberts speak about the future of books at the Winnipeg Millenium Library on Monday night. The death knell is ringing for the printed book. Surprisingly Ken predicts that even the e-book as we know it today may soon give way to the next big thing in reading. Learn about it in my post on the Vast Imaginations site.

I was walking to the West End Cultural Centre on Sunday night and went past this mural. Unveiled in September of 2013 it pays tribute to Winnipeg mayor Bill Norrie who died in July of 2012. Bill Norrie grew up not too far from its location at the corner of Ellice and Langside.

Tom Lamb – A Sculpture by Leo Mol on the Bill Norrie mural

Bill’s wife Helen Norrie, whose photo is displayed prominently in the mural, said at the mural’s unveiling that she appreciated the way it pictured so many of the things her husband was passionate about and interested in. For example the mural includes a sculpture of Tom Lamb by Winnipeg artist Leo Mol. Norrie officially opened Mol’s sculpture garden in Assiniboine Park during his last year in office. There is also a panda, since Bill Norrie helped to bring the pandas to Winnipeg.

The mural was painted by local artists Michel Saint Hilaire and Mandy van Leeuwen and shows the former mayor sitting at his desk surrounded by items that were meaningful to him. The artists have even included a likeness of Bill Norrie’s childhood home on Banning Street.

The Norrie cottage and a panda

Bill Norrie was the mayor of Winnipeg from 1979-1992 and at the mural’s unveiling current mayor Sam Katz characterized him as a kind and gentle man who loved his community. University of Winnipeg president Dr. Lloyd Axworthy also paid tribute to Norrie saying, “he never forgot his roots.”

I’ve been eating lunch regularly at Neechi Commons at 865 Main Street. A number of schools I serve as a faculty advisor for the university are in the area. I’ve discovered it’s a great place to go for lunch. The commons is an Aboriginal owned and operated cooperative and contains not only a restaurant but also a grocery store where I often stop after my school visits to pick up items I need for supper .There is also an art store called……..

Neechi Niche.

The waiters are friendly, helpful and polite and the food at Niche Commons is always good. I especially enjoy the homemade soups. Last week I had a delicious cream of cauliflower and yesterday’s special was a beef barley. The bannock is wonderful and so are the salads. Yesterday I tried the wild rice salad. The restaurant has a full menu with all kinds of burgers and breakfast items as well.

Winding Staircase Leading to the Restaurant

Neechi means friend/sister/brother in Cree and Ojibwa.

Kitchen at Neechi Commons

Neechi Commons is the largest commercial employer of First Nations and Metis people. More than 50 people are employed by the store and the art shop represents the work of some 40 artists.

Tables are decorated with stones and little pine logs

If you’ve never been to Neechi Commons you should really drop in. But if you come for lunch come early. The place is often packed.

We have breakfast every Saturday morning at the Free Press Cafe. This Saturday morning we found ourselves in the middle of a movie set. Crews were out turning Arthur Street into a Christmas wonderland, with blow up Santas, lights and even a mailbox for sending letters to the North Pole. We watched as workers used hoses to spray some kind of white stuff all over the trees. This turned out to be unnecessary since just a few minutes later it actually began to snow for real in Winnipeg. We found out from the waitress at the cafe that the film being shot was a Hallmark Hall of Fame special called One Christmas Eve and that it starred Anne Heche. Apparently Heche plays a newly divorced Mom having some unexpected adventures on Christmas Eve. Later our friend Les dropped by to join us for breakfast. He sometimes works as an extra on movies being shot in Winnipeg and he told us a film crew has been in Winnipeg for a number of weeks already filming this movie. Les had been hired to work on the set the following night.I don’t know what the story line is about but fire fighters and fire engines, police cars and ambulances and stretchers were being put in place for filming so I’m thinking there must be some sort of accident scene. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see when the movie is aired on television. Seeing film crews in our neighborhood isn’t at all unusual since Winnipeg is a popular site for making movies. Our historic Exchange district can easily be turned into downtown Chicago, New York or San Francisco at the turn of the century or in the present. Having movies shot in our neighborhood is just one more thing that makes living in Winnipeg’s Exchange district interesting.

Dave and I spent a long time looking for a place in Winnipeg that would serve wonton mein as good as the soup we found in so many restaurants in Hong Kong. Wonton mein was our favorite supper during our six years in Hong Kong. We’d stop in at a little street side restaurant in our village on our way home from work and have a bowl of the dumpling and noodle soup. It filled you right up. A complete meal in a bowl. After about a year of searching in Winnipeg we discovered an excellent wonton mien at a restaurant called Noodle Express at 107-180 King Street.

On Monday we walked on over before the Winnipeg Jets game to have a hot bowl of soup. The restaurant is just behind the Winnipeg Chinese Cultural Centre and yes those are flakes of snow in the photo. It was snowing hard on our way over to the restaurant. You choose what you like off the menu and write down your order.The staff at the restaurant is efficient and no-nonsense.The decor is plain and utilitarian. The soup however is anything but ordinary.A visit to Noodle Express always brings back wonderful memories of warm evenings in Hong Kong and is the perfect antidote to a wintry Winnipeg night.We’re glad we’ve discovered a place right here in Winnipeg with wonton mein almost as good as what we ate in Hong Kong.

I laughed. I cried. I know that’s a cliché but it’s what happened yesterday when we attended the play Kim’s Convenience at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. Kim is a Korean teacher who immigrated to Canada as a young married man to make a better life for his family. He buys a convenience store in a Toronto neighbourhood and spends his life behind the counter.

But Kim knows the store is not what his life is all about. “This store is not my story,” he says to his children. “You are my story.” That was one of the lines that brought tears to my eyes.

Mr. Kim and His Daughter- Photo Winnipeg Free Press

Kim’s children’s stories have not turned out as he hoped. His son ends up in trouble with the law, has a fight with his father, and runs away from home with all the money from the store safe. Now married with a son of his own and working at a dead-end job in the car rental business he has maintained his relationship with his mother but he and his Dad are estranged. Kim’s daughter is 30, a professional photographer who can’t afford to live on her own and isn’t married.

One morning a real estate developer offers Kim a bundle for his convenience store. Should he sell it and retire or is there still a chance one of his children will want the business? As the family goes through the day we are treated to a window on their lives.

The Kim Family

I think the reason the audience laughs so often, and becomes so engaged with the play is because as they observe the family’s interactions they see their own family. Whether they are of Korean, Polish, Ukrainian, Jewish or Mennonite origin they recognize characteristics of their own families in the Kims. They see their own grandfathers and fathers in Mr. Kim’s old-fashioned ways and pride in the ‘old country.’ They see their own kids in the Kim children who are having trouble deciding what they want in life and their mothers and grandmothers in Mrs. Kim’s steadfast love and loyalty to her family.

The play is only on for a few more days. Go and see it. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry.